The April 2018 inter-Korean summit took place on 27 April 2018 on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area, between Moon Jae-in, President of South Korea, and Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea and Supreme Leader of North Korea. The summit was the third inter-Korean summit – the first in eleven years. It was also the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader entered the South's territory; President Moon also briefly crossed into the North's territory.
The summit took place after the two sides had already held several meetings in preparation for their joint attendance at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The idea was initially brought forward through an official invitation from the North to conduct a meeting. The summit was focused on the North Korean nuclear weapons program and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The Panmunjom Declaration was made following the summit.
Terminology
South Korean media and the Blue House called the meeting the 2018 North-South Summit Meeting (Korean: 2018년남북정상회담). The latter explained that the official reason for not calling the meeting the third inter-Korean meeting was that they hoped the inter-Korean summit would no longer be a "special event" but could be held regularly. Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the Workers' Party of Korea, called it the 2018 North-South Summit Meeting (Korean: 2018년북남수뇌상봉). The slogan of the meeting was "Peace, A New Start" (Korean: 평화, 새로운시작).
Background
Winter Olympics breakthrough
On 6 July 2017, South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered a speech entitled "Berlin Peace Initiative" at the Körber Foundation in Germany, stating that in order to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula, it is necessary to establish lasting peace through dialogue.
North and South Korea must join hands to achieve a breakthrough in their peace process. I propose to North Korea that we begin with the easier things. … Fourth, resume contact and dialogue for peace and cooperation on the peninsula. Easing tensions on the peninsula is the most pressing issue. The current lack of contact between the authorities is extremely dangerous. To address the current situation, we need to initiate contact and engage in meaningful dialogue. Furthermore, I am willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un anytime, anywhere, if the conditions are met. Now is the time to change the tensions and confrontation on the peninsula. We can put all bilateral interests, including the nuclear issue and the peace treaty, on the table to discuss peace on the peninsula and North-South cooperation. This will be more than just a dialogue; a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I look forward to North Korea's decision.
In addition, Moon advocated taking the Chuseok as an opportunity to hold a reunion of separated families that had been suspended for many years; taking the signing of the armistice agreement as an opportunity to stop hostile acts on the military demarcation line; and inviting North Korea to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics to be held in Pyeongchang the following year. Pyongyang initially had an ambiguous attitude toward the "Berlin concept". On 15 July, North Korean state media Rodong Sinmun published a commentary entitled "We should find out what the path to achieving peace and unification on the Korean Peninsula is", which pointed out that Moon's suggestion to dialogue was "a dreamlike sophistry" and criticized him for advocating dialogue on the one hand and imposing economic sanctions on North Korea on the other hand, which it said was self-contradictory. However, at the same time, the evaluation left some room for maneuver and praised him for "determined to respect and implement the June 15 Joint Declaration and the October 4 Declaration".
As 2018 began, the situation on the Korean Peninsula changed. In his New Year's address, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed his willingness to improve relations between the two countries: "We look forward to achieving results at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and will send a delegation. To this end, we may hold talks as soon as possible." Thus, the two countries held a ministerial meeting at the Peace House on 9 January. North Korea agreed to send a team to participate in the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and would send a cheerleading team, an art troupe, a visiting group, a taekwondo performance group, and a press delegation to visit South Korea during the Games. On 9 February, Kim Jong Un sent his younger sister, Kim Yo Jong, First Deputy Department Director of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, along with senior cadres of the Workers' Party of Korea, including Kim Yong-nam, the President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics and visit South Korea for three days. During the opening ceremony, athletes from both countries carried the Korean Unification Flag together. On 5 March, the South Korean special envoy returned to Pyongyang, North Korea. After the meeting, Chung Eui-yong announced that the third inter-Korean summit would be held at the end of April. In order to create a friendly atmosphere, the two countries took several actions in April. Kim Jong Un first invited South Korean artists to perform in Pyongyang, and later announced at a meeting of the Workers' Party of Korea that a hotline between leaders would be opened, nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launch tests would be suspended, and the nuclear test site would be closed. South Korea stopped using loudspeakers to broadcast messages to North Korea at the border.
Preparation and Implementation
In preparation for the upcoming summit, officials from both sides met at Panmunjom on 29 March for 1 hour and 31 minutes. After the meeting, the two sides issued a joint statement announcing that the 2018 summit would be held at the Peace House in the Korean Demilitarized Zone south of Panmunjom, which was accepted as the meeting's location by North Korea from among the venues proposed by South Korea. The two Koreas' high government officials held a working-level meeting on 4 April 2018 to discuss summit details at the Peace House. The agenda was planned to include denuclearization, peace establishment and improvement of inter-Korean relations for their mutual benefit. More than 200 NGOs called for human rights issues in the North to be added to the agenda and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe petitioned to include the North Korean abductions of Japanese citizens as well, but these topics were ultimately excluded from the summit. The official website of the Blue House had a petition that was signed by over a thousand people who opposed the reception.
On 14 April, the two countries discussed communications at the Unification Pavilion north of the demarcation line. The following day, the Blue House stated at a press conference that the slogan of the meeting was "Peace, A New Start," and indicated that the talks and the subsequent North Korea-U.S. summit were "confirmed." On 25 April the South Korean Ministry of National Defense stated that in order to reflect "high-level courtesy and mutual respect," the Army, Navy and Air Force honor guards would perform the protocol duties for the talks, and Kim Jong Un would inspect the guard of honors. This was the first time that the North Korean leader had inspected South Korea's guard of honors. In addition, given the limited space at Panmunjom, the guard of honor inspection ceremony would be simplified. There was some controversy with the arrangement of a joint-service guard of honor formed by the Republic of Korea Armed Forces for Kim. The Ministry of National Defense justified this move by pointing out that Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun were given an equally welcoming reception during their visits to North Korea in 2000 and 2007, respectively. The Ministry also used the Cold War as a historical reference, saying that "when violent conflicts continued between the United States and the Soviet Union, the United States and China, honor guards were organized for leaders of other countries".
On 26 April, Im Jong-seok, chairman of the preparatory committee for the inter-Korean summit, announced the specific schedule for the summit and confirmed the official list of accompanying personnel, as follows:
North Korea
- Kim Yong-nam, President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly
- Kim Yo Jong, sister of Kim Jong Un, alternate member of the Politburo
- Kim Yong-chol, Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea
- Choe Hwi, Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea
- Ri Son-gwon, Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland
- Ri Myong-su, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army
- Ri Yong-ho, Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Ri Su-yong, Vice Chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea
- Pak Yong-sik, Minister of People's Armed Forces
South Korea
Meeting
Morning
At 9:30 a.m. Seoul time on 27 April 2018 (9:00 a.m. Pyongyang time; 0:30 a.m. UTC), Kim Jong Un crossed the military demarcation line and entered the South Korean side, where he was welcomed by Moon Jae-in who was waiting by the line. The meeting was the first visit by a North Korean leader to South Korean territory after the Korean War (1950–53). The start of the meeting was broadcast live and featured the two leaders shaking hands over the demarcation line. The two addressed each other in their formal capacities. Moon Jae-in addressed Kim Jong Un as "Chairman", while Kim Jong Un addressed Moon Jae-in as "President". Moon Jae-in asked when he could visit North Korea, and Kim Jong Un responded "now." Moon then accepted an invitation from Kim to briefly step over to the North's side of the line, a seemingly impromptu moment. The two crossed the military demarcation line hand in hand and briefly stayed in the North Korean territory before walking hand in hand into the South Korean territory.
Afterwards, two children living in Daeseong-dong presented flowers to Kim Jong Un. Subsequently, the South Korean side held a traditional welcoming ceremony for Kim Jong Un, including the drum ceremony, the Arirang ceremony, and a military parade. This was also the first time that the North Korean leader had inspected the South Korean honor guard. As the two were on their way to the main platform with the honor guard, Moon Jae-in said to Kim Jong Un, "Foreign countries also like traditional honor guards, but today we are presenting you with a simplified version, which is a bit of a pity. If you come to the Blue House, we can show you a better scene." Kim Jong Un responded, "Oh, is that so? If the President gives me an invitation, I can go to the Blue House anytime." Afterwards, the two entered the Peace House, where Kim Jong Un personally wrote in the guestbook: "A new history begins now, standing at the starting point of an era of peace and history. Kim Jong Un 2018.4.27".
At around 10:15 Seoul time, the two leaders held formal talks on the topic of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Analysts also believe that the two discussed issues such as a peace mechanism to ease military tensions on the peninsula and economic cooperation. The talks lasted about 100 minutes in the morning, and both leaders were satisfied with the talks. Moon Jae-in said that he had a "beneficial discussion" with Kim Jong Un and hoped to "present a great gift" to the people of both countries and the world. Kim Jong Un said that "this is just the beginning" and hoped that the contents of the talks would be "satisfactory to some extent" to all parties after they were compiled and released. At noon, the two leaders had lunch separately, and Kim Jong Un returned to the North Korean territory to have lunch.